Designer John Greg Ball -Weblog

Growing up the son of the 25-year Calgary Stampede rodeo announcer- Lorne Ball, I have been surrounded by Western rodeo world for a good part of my life. As a native southern Albertan, my work as an artist and designer has fueled a passion to understand the historic visual culture that constructs our Canadian West.

having a little fun with all of this is the new cowboy contemporary series. All available for sale, this new line of work will be shown alongside 10 designers and firms currently working here in the West.

Visit my booth as part of the westxprssd feature at this year’s Calgary Interior Design show and Vancouver Interior Design show.

lots more to come…

View from below

Images of the 12-foot ceiling hoodoo lamp installation in Calgary’s Kensington district designed by: Edmonton-based Shoko Cesar and Calgary designer John Greg Ball. More images after the official opening…

A long view from Meadowbank, Alberta

Connect Logo designed by: John Greg Ball

In the image above, Todd Falkowsky of Canadian Design Resource, recently documented a deer warning road sign in Ontario while broken down outside of Toronto. It stimulated some dialogue in the comments section:

“While driving across Canada, it’s interesting to compare these signs in different provinces. They have subtle differences”. -Chistopher B.

In response, above is an image I took from Halifax while on vacation…

And my favorite, the Alberta version (found West of Calgary) has been aptly “shot” with a variety of different caliber guns. The message here is that if a deer shows itself, it won’t get run over, but there’s good chance it will get shot…

Regardless, It is certainly interesting see the slight variations that each province in Canada adds to the design of a simple sign to make it their own. In terms of aesthetics, I must admit that Ontario’s deer seems much more pleasing to the eye. What another great find on Canadian Design Resource today!

John Greg Ball and Shoko Cesar’s violent art collaboration using a 12-gauge shotgun, and prefabricated signage to create wall art. (image from Calgary’s arthouse opening of MADE in the WEST)

Many thanks to Readers Digest for choosing the Hoodoo lamp as one of canada’s 30 best edition this month.

In my opinion, real inspiration to design products should come from first-hand life experiences. In the case of my newest work, we were inspired to design a small coat rack for my daughter’s room (who by the way is already one year old). From that, came the idea for Tusk, a simple powder coated steel coat rack:

“Decorate the nursery with this elephant-shaped coat rack designed by John Greg Ball. Use the elephant’s tusks as hangers for baby coats, baby hats, or bath towels. Available in blue, pink and green powdercoat. TUSK is designed manufactured in Canada”.

now available for purchase here:
www.connectmommies.com

From the Radiant Dark exhibit in Toronto. (Stools designed by John Greg Ball and Shoko Cesar)